GAME 1 - 2010 Stanley Cup GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Pittsburgh Penguins, Wednesday Apr. 14, 2010 - 7:00PM EST.

GAME 1 - 2010 Stanley Cup GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Pittsburgh Penguins, Wednesday Apr. 14, 2010 - 7:00PM EST.




Ottawa (Ranked 5th) visit the Mellon Arena to face Pittsburgh (Ranked 4th) for game one of their round 1 best of seven series Wednesday night. Ottawa finished off the season resting their top shot blocker and their number 1 net minder which allowed Buffalo to get, what turned out to be, a meaningless win. The Sens were 7-2-1 in their last ten while the Penguins were a pedestrian 5-4-1. I realize stats during the regular season need to be taken with a grain of salt but, there are some concerning numbers that the Sens have accumulated over the season. Ottawa has the worst goal differential of all playoff teams, only Philly has a worse road record, and Ottawa has the 21st best PP at 16.9%. The good news is the Sens have been running at over 20% for the past 10 plus games and their PK has been top 10 for most of the season. Also, the Pens PP is only slightly better than ours at 17.2%. We have an identical face-off rating at 49.3% so that shouldn't be a big factor. I think a big key to this series will be who can get their PP going and/or who can keep the PK running at a high level. Another key will be home ice advantage. Both teams have stellar home records with Ottawa finishing 26-11-4 and Pittsburgh finishing 25-12-4.

With Kovalev going down for the season the Pens will have one less sniper to key on which should make life for the rest of the Sens forwards that much more difficult. It will be interesting to see how Regin, Karlsson, Elliott and to a lesser extent Foligno, respond to the pressure of the playoffs.

Game Coverage

TV: Versus, CBC (HD)
Radio: Team 1200
Web: check ATDHE.net and Justin.tv

Latest updates:

Matt Cooke was knocked out in a one punch fight with Evander Kane. He was held out for the rest of the game for precautionary reasons. It appears as though he suffered a concussion but the team has come out and said that is not the case. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

Lineups

Ottawa
Pittsburgh

Ottawa Key Injuries

Filip Kuba (back surgery, out a month)
Alexei Kovalev (torn ACL, done for the year)

Penguins Key Injuries

Matt Cooke (possible concussion? day to day)
Chris Kunitz (Shoulder, day to day)

Playoff Previews:

ESPN playoff preview
Sportsnet.ca playoff preview
OttawaSenators.com playoff preview
Ottawa Sun playoff preview

Regular season series stats comparison


Media Links:

Official Sens Twitter
SensTVOnline

GO SENS GO!!!

I think that's a record for earliest GDT isn't it?

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think that's a record for earliest GDT isn't it?

Liam?

Look to protect Alfie - Pittsburgh are dirty and will be wanting to take him out. Maybe less so with Cooke out though.

I hate to say this but if Cooke plays he'll be a target for sure. No way he didn't sustain a concussion in that fight if he actually was knocked out and not faking. Another hard bump and he'll be out for the playoffs.

I think if the Sens win this series it'll be in 6 games with the Sens winning just one road game. If it goes to 7 games the Pens will take it. Also if it happens to be less than 6 games it'll be a Pens win as well.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think if the Sens win this series it'll be in 6 games with the Sens winning just one road game. If it goes to 7 games the Pens will take it. Also if it happens to be less than 6 games it'll be a Pens win as well.

I would bet the deed on the team that is the first to win 4 out of the 7 games in the series. Book it!

GO SENS GO!!!

I know it's nit picking but in the ESPN preview they say this is the 3rd year in a row that the Pens sit 4th. It's actually the 2nd year in a row. In 07/08 they were 2nd overall and before that they were 5th.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think if the Sens win this series it'll be in 6 games with the Sens winning just one road game. If it goes to 7 games the Pens will take it. Also if it happens to be less than 6 games it'll be a Pens win as well.

I would bet the deed on the team that is the first to win 4 out of the 7 games in the series. Book it!

What would you bet on that team to do?

I suppose I could have put my prediction simpler.

IF Ottawa wins this series it'll be in 6 games.

I think the Pens are getting the shaft on this schedule. If Ottawa plays all their home games they'll get a Saturday and a Sunday where as the Pens get one Friday, one Thursday and no weekend games.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think that's a record for earliest GDT isn't it?

Source?

BTW, great summary there, Shabbs.

wprager wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think that's a record for earliest GDT isn't it?

Source?

BTW, great summary there, Shabbs.

It's what I do.

We're about to surprise a lot of people I think.